July 23, 2007
HISTORY IS EVEN OVER IN TED'S BACKYARD:
New insurance chief goes beyond expectations: Auto deregulation shocks industry (Bruce Mohl, July 23, 2007, Boston Globe)
James Harrington , executive director of the Massachusetts Insurance Federation, said former Governor Mitt Romney had championed auto insurance deregulation. By contrast, Governor Deval Patrick had said almost nothing about auto insurance on the campaign trail and [Nonnie S. ] Burnes, his pick for commissioner, had a blank slate.Posted by Orrin Judd at July 23, 2007 8:27 AM"We viewed the incoming Patrick administration with some degree of trepidation," he said.
But Burnes last week shocked almost everyone. She not only mastered the minutiae of auto insurance regulation in a matter of months, but also set out to break a 30-year-old industry stalemate on deregulation. She said she planned to usher in "managed competition" next year, allowing automobile insurers to set their own rates under the close supervision of state regulators.
The decision, which will end Massachusetts's distinction as the only state where regulators set all auto insurance rates, will probably have a major impact on the wallets of the state's four million drivers.
The really extraordinary thing about Massachusetts auto insurance regulation is that the state mandates the exact wording of the policy.
Posted by: Ibid at July 23, 2007 9:01 AMThe hilarious part of MA insurance to me is that it's deadly to mass transit - urban insurance is heavily subsidized by suburban policyholders, letting city residents who couldn't otherwise afford to own cars.
Posted by: Mike Earl at July 23, 2007 9:17 AMOne supposes that Mike E. means to tell us that urban drivers in Massachusetts are "subsidized" because the state places them in the same risk pool as the rest of its citizens.
Posted by: Lou Gots at July 23, 2007 3:12 PMLou:
Yes, the urban drivers have more claims; in a market where the price was not set by the State, their policies would cost significantly more than they do now. Companies that service disproportionate numbers of urban policies effectively receive payments from those that do not.
Posted by: Mike Earl at July 24, 2007 3:00 PM